South African based engineering surveyors Trail Surveys (Pty) Ltd, have purchased a state of the art laser scanner to improve quality control at the world’s largest coal fired power station. The RIEGL VZ-400 purchased from 3D Laser Mapping, has already been used in a number of real world projects including a scan of the boiler plant at the Medupi Power Station. Currently under construction, Medupi, translated as “rain that soaks parched lands, giving economic relief”, is owned and operated by Eskom, and when fully commissioned in 2015 will help address the current energy crisis in South Africa.

“We selected the RIEGL VZ-400, supplied by 3D Laser Mapping, as we consider it to be the best in its class. With a rugged design to suit any type of project it is a medium range scanner that provides, for us, the best of all worlds,” commented Philip Schalekamp, Director at Trail Surveys. “It is extremely fast, reliable and allows us to quickly provide an ultra-high definition point cloud as a deliverable to our clients.”

“3D Laser Mapping helped us to get started as we didn’t have any laser scanning experience when we purchased the RIEGL VZ-400,” continued Schalekamp. “The staff at 3D Laser Mapping are always available offering innovative ideas for niche markets and support for research and development.”

Experts in as-built mapping and modelling, Trail Surveys (Pty) Ltd provides a multi-disciplinary surveying service in the fields of civil engineering, civil construction, hydrographic, cadastral and architecture. The company has completed various projects in the energy sector and specialises in the scanning of cooling towers at Power Stations.

The RIEGL VZ-400 is a high speed laser scanner with a wide range of view. Utilizing unique echo digitisation and online waveform analysis to achieve superior performance and accuracies of measurement, the VZ-400 can be used even under adverse weather conditions. Achieving accuracies of 3 millimetres at ranges of up to 600 metres the VZ-400 can capture up to 122,000 points per second with a 100 x 360-degree field of view.

CONTACTS:

Reader enquiries to Charlie Whyman, 3D Laser Mapping Ltd, charlie.whyman@3dlasermapping.com, tel: +44 (0) 1949 838 004, www.3dlasermapping.com